Hampton University and Old Dominion University hosted the
2013 ISCA National Co-ed Semi-finals over the weekend of April 27-28. The event
was sailed on the Hampton Roads off of the shores of Hampton, Virginia, located in-between
the James River and the
Chesapeake Bay. The team arrived in Norfolk, VA, late Friday
night and stayed at Tom Etheridge’s (’16) house over the weekend. Throughout the weekend while
at the regatta or at the Etheridge’s house, the team was spoiled by the fantastic
hospitality of the Etheridge’s.
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| Matt Graham and Karinne Smolenyak |
Semi-finals is the largest collegiate dinghy regatta of the
year, the regatta consisted of 36 teams and more than 250 sailors, which provided a different feel than the
usual collegiate regatta. The 36 teams are broken down by seedings from their
own districts into 2 fleets of 18 boats. Then the top 9 from each fleet of 18
make it to co-ed fleet racing nationals.
Saturday’s weather couldn't of been any better; 70 degree
temperatures, sunny skies and a 5-10 knot easterly breeze provided great races
for the competitors. Our team started off the day strong, recording top five
finishes in both divisions, rounding the first windward mark in first a few
times and achieving numerous top 10 finishes. A division consisted of
Matt
Graham ’13, Karinne Smolenyak ’14 and Tom Etheridge ’16 and B division was Ryan
Seago ’14 and Emily Gazall ’16. At the end of the day the team was in 10th
place in the
Eastern Semi-final, 15 pts behind the 9th place team and within 20 pts of 7th place.
 |
| Ryan Seago and Emily Gazall |
Eastern Semi-final, 15 pts behind the 9th place team and within 20 pts of 7th place.
Sunday started out with very similar conditions to Saturday,
with mid-60 degree temperatures, mostly sunny skies, and the same 5-10 knot
easterly breeze which built to 10-20 knots as the day wore on. The team started
out with similar results to Saturday but then started to falter as the day progressed.
The team finished off the regatta in 12th place after 26 races, with
39 pts separating us from qualifying for nationals.
-Ryan Seago '14
